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[KDC720]

Great pics. The art direction of TEW is excellent in a lot of spots and really varied. It really takes you through a parade of various horror styles, and once you fully understand the story and it's implications it makes total sense for the art styles to feel so schizophrenic.

There are many locations I'd consider 'iconic' too. The lighthouse of the asylum appearing in the distance in backgrounds was always a great sight.

The game really does feel like a love letter to the horror genre it terms of its art direction and enemy design. You've got classical horror, torture porn, Asian horror, psychological stuff, and lots of references to Mikami's previous works, and stuff like Silent Hill as well.

It's a total mish-mash of styles, but it does indeed make a lot of sense in context.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Man, I really need to get back into this. I think it's had a bunch of patches since I last played it.

 

[Neiteio]

The most terrifying thing of the Evil Within is running out of stamina after 5 seconds of running and having your character trying to rest when there's a freaking chainsaw guy right behind him.

Upgrade your stamina! And don't run from the chainsaw guy! Set up mines and hide in a closet while he trips over them blowing himself to bits!

...or lure him into the spike trap room.

 

[CHC]

I wish this game wasn't so.... flawed. I really, really wanted to enjoy it, and your screenshots are extremely alluring, but actually playing the game just pissed me off. I remember being chased by a guy with a chainsaw in some shack-village and feeling like the whole scene was just set-up bullshit. It didn't seem to want me to do anything other than shoot him billions of times, which was quite frustrating.

 

[grandwizard]

You should never let your stamina bar fully run out anyway. It's similar to the one in Dark Souls, if you let it run out you are screwed.

 

[Anton Sugar]

I wish this game wasn't so.... flawed. I really, really wanted to enjoy it, and your screenshots are extremely alluring, but actually playing the game just pissed me off. I remember being chased by a guy with a chainsaw in some shack-village and feeling like the whole scene was just set-up bullshit. It didn't seem to want me to do anything other than shoot him billions of times, which was quite frustrating.

There is a trap you can trigger that immediately kills him, I think. It's a bit hard to reach without practice, though.

 

[Neiteio]

I wish this game wasn't so.... flawed. I really, really wanted to enjoy it, and your screenshots are extremely alluring, but actually playing the game just pissed me off. I remember being chased by a guy with a chainsaw in some shack-village and feeling like the whole scene was just set-up bullshit. It didn't seem to want me to do anything other than shoot him billions of times, which was quite frustrating.

So why did you keep shooting him?

Why didn't you line up a string of proximity mines from the barn where he starts? Why didn't you try setting up bombs, then running away and hiding in a closet, and then listening as he trips over every single bomb looking for you, and dies without you firing a single shot?

Or maybe you should've tried luring him into the house next to the barn, which has two huge spike traps you can trigger by flipping a switch.

There are many ways to kill him without firing a shot. Ways to kill him without even -seeing- him.

Seems like most people who are frustrated with this game keep trying one ineffective tactic and don't realize, "This isn't working — maybe I should try a different approach!"

You should never let your stamina bar fully run out anyway. It's similar to the one in Dark Souls, if you let it run out you are screwed.

Yep. You have to throttle your stamina, "easing off the pedal," so to speak, to keep it going. That's essential early in the game, before you've upgraded it.

 

[Amirnol]

Played this when it released on PC, it was a glitchy mess, even with a decked out PC it ran like crap. I am curious to revisit it someday though, despite that. I made it up to

Spoiler

An encounter in a barn, where we learn what happened to that kid (burned). The whole thing ends with the barn on fire, can't quite remember exactly what came next.

How much of the game do I have left?

 

[Neiteio]

Played this when it released on PC, it was a glitchy mess, even with a decked out PC it ran like crap. I am curious to revisit it someday though, despite that. I made it up to

Spoiler

An encounter in a barn, where we learn what happened to that kid (burned). The whole thing ends with the barn on fire, can't quite remember exactly what came next.

How much of the game do I have left?

That's the end of Ch. 9. There are 15 chapters, so you were over halfway through.

 

[frontovik]

It's a exceptional game when it comes to visual and environmental designs, but I got to agree with joe that the pacing was inconsistent, the plot was convoluted, and the gameplay mechanics were wonky.

 

[gelf]

The visual design was superb, up there with Bloodborne for me. I know it gets a lot of hate but I'd still put the game among the top 5 I've played in the gen so far. I played it after it got several patches on PC which probably helps.

Enjoyed it immensely when I played it at launch. In my opinion it is a better game than The Last of Us. It has better atmosphere, boss fights and gameplay. Also the skill upgrade system is very well done.

I wouldn't say the games are entirely comparable but yes I'm also of the minority opinion that I'd much rather play this then TLOU as well.

 

[Static Veins]

Goddammit this thread makes the fact this is currently on sale for £9.99 on the PS Store all the more tempting...

Do I do it?

 

[GrayChild]

My personal GOTY 2014. One of the most underrated games I've played in the past few years.

As I mentioned in another thread, we need TEW2.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Goddammit this thread makes the fact this is currently on sale for £9.99 on the PS Store all the more tempting...

Do I do it?

Yes, yes you do

 

[Static Veins]

Yes, yes you do

SOLD!

 

[BaraSailey]

Man, the visuals in this game were incredible. Even with its' flaws, I still really enjoyed it. It was a good mix of action horror and classic survival horror, just like RE4 was. RE4 definitely had better pacing though, and the story wasn't as much of a mess as in this.

I've actually been thinking about replaying this recently on one of the harder difficulties, and I think I might actually give it go after this thread. I really forgot how great this game was visually; it had such a great atmosphere.

 

[JoduanER2]

Its definitely a good game and its full of wonderful design, BUT the performance on consoles is really bad and distract you from enjoying properly the game. I played it on PS4 and since you can now remove the blacks bars, it wasnt that bad but in some parts the framerate is really low. If your only option its to play it on consoles i would say do it, dont skip this gem especially if you are a horror fan as me.

 

[JoduanER2]

That's Ch. 3 — the area where I said I experienced a lower framerate, too. But it never turned into a slideshow or anything. It was just sort of... sub-30 fps throughout the chapter. Almost, but not quite there. But still smooth. I mainly noticed the dip in areas of heavy mist in that chapter.

Subsequent chapters often take place in more enclosed environments, or open spaces that have less environmental effects. I think you'll find the performance improves as the game goes on.


Well actually...

Nah. Won't go into story spoilers.

Mmm, i would say it was close to a slideshow, i bet the average framerate in that chapter is like 20fps.

 

[Black Soma]

One of the best horror games of the last few years.

Also, the PC version eventually got an update that improved performance by a lot. Demo was almost unplayable for me, but the full game run at 50-60fps after the patch.

 

[User 479360]

I wish that I would have enjoyed this game. I found its AI to be annoying, though, and didn't really enjoy it much. Ended up deleting it after playing for a couple of hours.

I've been meaning to go back to it, but haven't. I also don't feel like downloading 40gb.

 

[SRTtoZ]

Those are actually gifs

 

[mf.luder]

Beat the game but maybe I should dive back in and give the DLC a go. Maybe it will break up MGO a little bit.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

You can see the game had the art director from REmake, behind it.

Just superb artistic direction.

I need to go back, once I can get a PC that can play it decently well.

 

[chicagocubsfan]

Loved the game. Hoping the sequel comes soon.

 

[somedevil]

Beat the game but maybe I should dive back in and give the DLC a go. Maybe it will break up MGO a little bit.

The DLC is good but it plays differently then the main game. Less action with more stealth.

 

[Mr. Giggles]

It was a good game but it could have been much MUCH better. I honestly think a little more time in the oven would have worked wonders

The game has good and bad bits.

 

[SURGEdude]

Boy did I want to love this game, but instead came away disappointed. These screenshots do a great job showing some of the highlights though. Some really awesome creature designs.

I'd love to see a sequel down the road where they nail it.

 

[Extra Sauce]

Can't wait for the PS5 remaster...

 

[Brakke]

Man some of those shots are dope, OP.

I really wanted to like this game. It has so many good ideas but just doesn't come together for me.

 

[Hellshingu]

Really enjoyed this game for what it was. I ended getting it on a sale for a good price and was satisfied with my purchase. Also got points from me since the protag and I share the same last name and I think that is actually pretty cool since it is so uncommon to see.

Hopefully they are working on a sequel and Mikami is getting the help he deserves from ZeniMax to create a game that play as great as it should.

 

[Gaz_RB]

I loved everything about the atmosphere, but the gameplay was just not fun to me.

 

[Neiteio]

The first time through, the game feels dizzying in its variety, but in hindsight, it's a pretty tight structure.

There are four regions that each span multiple consecutive chapters (the village of Elk River in chapters 2-4; the church at Cedar Hill in chapters 6-8; the Victoriano Estate in chapters 9 and 10; and Krimson City in chapters 11-14), with trips to Beacon Mental Hospital in the other chapters. And every now and then the game dives into the otherworldly "Horror Zone," which sometimes superimposes itself on other locations (i.e. a hospital filled with blood), and other times is its own unique place (i.e. the place with the heads).

It was hard narrowing down the screens in the OP. I have more than 100 screens and narrowed them down to a few dozen. I also want to reinstall the game and capture certain areas and details.

Hmm... There's just so much variety, and the OP barely scratches the surface.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

You know, I'm certainly not a fan of Mikami's story-telling or some of his gameplay concepts, but one thing I'll never deny is the man's talent for some good, classic horror aesthetic. Between the original Resident Evil, RE4, and The Evil Within, he absolutely nails the look and feel of dark, oppressive horror environments.

Even when he's borrowing from existing concepts (I'm wondering what, if he even has one, is his opinion of Silent Hill?) or just using classic horror cliches, he does so with fantastic panache. It's unfortunate that I just don't enjoy actually playing his games.

 

[Neiteio]

In many ways, TEW feels like the culmination of just about every horror game (and horror movie) that came before. It has elements of everything, both Western and Eastern.

One moment it feels grounded like Resident Evil; the next moment, deeply psychological like Silent Hill or Siren. You have shades of Clock Tower and Haunting Ground. You have SAW-like torture porn and Romero-like zombies in Gothic ghost story settings with Grudge-like apparitions. You go from the medieval countryside of Cedar Hill to the Inception-like urban sprawl of Krimson City. There are even kaiju! Somehow it all comes together tonally, and all of the elements feel connected, no matter how disparate they may seem.

Ultimately, TEW is like the ultimate expression of the horror genre and all of its concepts.

 

[Palocca]

A buddy of mine worked as the concept artist for this game. I'll have to link her this thread to show that her work has been greatly appreciated

 

[Dusk Golem]

I want to throw out there I loved some of the surrealistic and more twisted imagery of the DLC as well. Here's a few things from the second DLC piece, The Consequence:

---

And some much smaller screenshots.

 

[Neiteio]

Nice shots, Dusk! That last screen reminds me that this game has some amazing paintings on the walls.

I have a request, if anyone knows how to do this: Can anyone extract high-res copies of the paintings from the game's files? In particular, I'd like the image of the black hooded figure in the corner of the cellar, and the one of the black hooded figure standing on the shore of an ocean with an umbrella while an eye watches from above. *shivers*

Here are a few I was able to find:

 

[Black Soma]

I love the look of this game. Let me post some screens as well:

 

[refreshZ]

Hmm, I'm torn on this one. I appreciated the resource balancing - you never ever felt truly kitted out, any one monster could kick your ass if you were not prepared and boss fights were intense as hell. If you made it through the next 10 minutes would be scrabbling around picking up every last bullet to see you through. It was tense.

On the other hand I didn't like the fractured dreamscape thematic - I consider it a "lazy" form of level/game design. Areas don't flow or feel like one cohesive place - open the next door and you can literally be anywhere. It meant that whatever fevered nightmare a level designer came up with could (and would) be thrown in. To this end the quality of levels and their inhabitants varied wildly (and I guess there was story/lore connections, but I guess they were lost on me?). Levels like the village and its more open gameplay were few and far between.

I also wasn't a huge fan of the black borders (PS4) but it didn't bother me as much as most. All in all I was expecting a lot more polish and cohesiveness from Mikami.

 

[ninjablade]

for me the game was mind blowing but it really needed more polish on the technical side in a big way, and the aiming differently needed to be better, hope they make a sequel.

 

[Cramoss]

Chapter 10 was fucking fantastic. I loved the game overall but I wish most of the game had been as crazy and tense as this one.

so why was this game bad? I'm seriously intrigued.

Bad? If anything, it's underrated imo

 

[Salsa]

I adore this game and it deserves a spot right alongside RE4

people be cray

I loved it

 

[Azzanadra]

Since we are talking about The Evil Within imagery, can someone tell em what the fuck the mannequins were supposed to represent? They were all over the game and I have no goddamn idea. The closest I could get to was that they somehow represent the "perfect selves" of the corrupt and mutilated Haunted creatures.

 

[steven28]

Loved this game.I really hope we get to see what mikami is working on at this years e3.

 

[malfcn]

Shit. I don't remember that beast.
And I still need to play the DLC.

 

[hughesta]

thanks for reminding me how much I loved The Evil Within, Neiteio. God bless you, you beautiful soul.

 

[Crimsonclaw111]

I certainly hope Tango's new game isn't built on a garbage engine. Loved the game though.

 

[Neiteio]

Hmm, I'm torn on this one. I appreciated the resource balancing - you never ever felt truly kitted out, any one monster could kick your ass if you were not prepared and boss fights were intense as hell. If you made it through the next 10 minutes would be scrabbling around picking up every last bullet to see you through. It was tense.

On the other hand I didn't like the fractured dreamscape thematic - I consider it a "lazy" form of level/game design. Areas don't flow or feel like one cohesive place - open the next door and you can literally be anywhere. It meant that whatever fevered nightmare a level designer came up with could (and would) be thrown in. To this end the quality of levels and their inhabitants varied wildly (and I guess there was story/lore connections, but I guess they were lost on me?). Levels like the village and its more open gameplay were few and far between.

I also wasn't a huge fan of the black borders (PS4) but it didn't bother me as much as most. All in all I was expecting a lot more polish and cohesiveness from Mikami.

You can turn off the black borders on the PS4 version now.

Regarding the shifting environments and how they affect a sense of continuity, I used to feel like you. But the more I've come to understand the story, and the more I've thought about how each scenario provides contrast — hills and valleys — the more I've come to appreciate it.

TEW is a tightly crafted tale. Think of its structure this way:

Beacon Mental Hospital --> Elk River --> Beacon Mental Hospital --> Cedar Hill --> Beacon Mental Hospital --> Victoriano Estate --> Beacon Mental Hospital --> Krimson City --> Beacon Mental Hospital

As you can see, it's a nice back and forth, with each non-Beacon comprising several chapters in a row. There are thematic reasons why the game visits each area. Each is important.

I think this game will grow in stature as people slowly discover it on their own terms without prior expectations.

Chapter 10 was fucking fantastic. I loved the game overall but I wish most of the game had been as crazy and tense as this one.

Ch. 10 is also my favorite. It's incredibly lengthy and challenging, so much so that it could've been its own standalone horror game.

But it's also psychologically grueling. If the entire game were like Ch. 10, players would end up in the hospital in real life, lol.

I adore this game and it deserves a spot right alongside RE4

people be cray

I loved it

Agreed. I think it's a spiritual successor to both RE4 and REmake — like a melding of the two. Remarkable game.

 

[Chunky]

Neiteio I love your posts in general and your fucking cracking work on this OP really put this game on my radar. I always thought it looked somewhat interesting, but this has convinced to get on it soon as pay day comes.
Also, you love KI:U as much as I do so I trust your good taste.

 

[Razo999]

Your photos makes me want to play the game.I have the game from the launch and i didn't played yet

That is ok. I have the game still shrink wrapped. One day I will get to it